heir doing so. As to Slatin's escape
affecting the treatment of the other European prisoners, it must be
observed that when at various times escapes were effected from Omdurman,
and ultimately when Slatin himself escaped, no ill-treatment was
inflicted on the rest of the prisoners; and even had such ill-treatment
been the certain consequence of an escape, that need not have debarred
a man, according to the customs of war, from attempting to regain his
liberty. Nothing but his free and formal promise, obtained in return
for favours received, can alienate that right. If the Mahdi chose to
slaughter the remaining prisoners, the responsibility rested with the
Mahdi.

Slatin was, however, in no position to argue his case. His
correspondence with Gordon was discovered. For some days his life hung
on a thread. For several months he was heavily chained and fed on a
daily handful of uncooked doura, such as is given to horses and mules.
Tidings of these things were carried to Gordon. 'Slatin,' he observes
icily, 'is still in chains.' He never doubted the righteousness of the
course he had adopted, never for an instant. But few will deny that
there were strong arguments on both sides. Many will assert that they
were nicely balanced. Gordon must have weighed them carefully. He never
wavered. Yet he needed Slatin. He was alone. He had no one in whose
military capacity he could put the slightest confidence. Again and again
in the Journals he expresses his want of trustworthy subordinates. He
could not be everywhere, he said. 'Nearly every order has to be repeated
two or three times. I am weary of my life.' 'What one has felt so much
here is the want of men like Gessi, or Messadaglia, or Slatin, but I
have no one to whom I could entrust expeditions.....'

This was the man who would have employed Zubehr and bowed to expediency.
But Zubehr had never 'denied his Lord.'

The actual defence of Khartoum is within the province of the Journals,
nor shall I attempt a chronological account. After the 10th of
September, when General Gordon sent Colonel Stewart and Messrs. Power
and Herbin down the river in the ill-fated Abbas steamer, he was
altogether alone. Many men have bowed to the weight of responsibility.
Gordon's responsibility was undivided. There was no one to whom he could
talk as an equal. There was no one to whom he could--as to a trusty
subordinate--reveal his doubts. To some minds the exercise of power
is pleasant, but few sensa